Backgroud and history of the building
This building is a summer house for Iyanaga family, constructed in 1928, and we believe it is a valuable building that has survived its long history alongside the development of Karuizawa. resort area
In the history of imaginary space
Imagine the imaginary
In his later years, mathematician Kunihiko Kodaira spent eve
Mathematician Kunihiko Kodaira spent every summer relaxing with his family at this villa in his later years. Immediately after the war, he moved to the USA and conducted research in Princeton, where Einstein, Oppenheimer and other great intellectuals of the time gathered, and his achievements earned him the Fields Medal.
What he was thinking in the world of imaginary and complex numbers, which ordinary people cannot understand, we have no way of knowing now.
This villa has been used by the family for generations, but it is now nearly 100 years old and has a strange atmosphere, as if time has stopped.
I began to think that I wanted to somehow keep this loose building and make it a wonderful space.
There is a concept in mathematics called imaginary numbers, which you were exposed to when you were young. The English word for this is Imaginary number. It means an imaginary number. I thought it was strange and romantic that there is an expression ‘imaginary’ in such a rigid discipline as mathematics. Kunihiko Kodaira was also a strange and unfamiliar figure.
This Iya Kohei Yanaga residence was initially a summer home for playing golf, but over the years it has become a wonderful space beyond imagination, where his relatives live comfortably.
We are planning to utilise such a building that transcends dimensions into the future, hoping that it will become a space that will attract the imagination of visitors and provide them with a place to rest their minds.
The name ‘Imaginarium i MAGINARIUM’ was given with the intention of creating a space that offers such imaginative value.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
A space for all kinds of people to visit
We don't use this building much throughout the year, and we are thinking of creating a system that allows various people to use it when it is not in use. By doing so, we hope to continue using this old space in various ways.
